Pierre Hadot is arguably one of the most influential and wide-ranging historians of ancient philosophy writing today. As well as having an important influence on the work of Michel Foucault, Hadot's work has been pivotal in the development of contemporary French philosophy. His work is currently concerned with a redefinition of modern philosophy through a study of ancient life and ancient philosophical texts. This book presents a history of spiritual exercises from Socrates to early Christianity, an account of their decline in modern philosophy, and a discussion of the different conceptions of philosophy that have accompanied the trajectory and fate of the theory and practice of spiritual exercises. Hadot's book demonstrates the extent to which philosophy has been, and still is, above all else a way of seeing and of being in the world.
Contents: Introduction: Pierre Hadol and the Spiritual Phenomenon of Ancient Philosophy by Arnold I. Davidson PART I: METHOD 1. Forms of Life and Forms of Discourse in Ancient Philosophy 2. Philosophy, Exegesis, and Creative Mistakes PART II: SPIRITUAL EXERCISES 3. Spiritual Exercises 4. Ancient Spiritual Exercises and "Christian Philosophy" PART III: FIGURES 5. The Figure of Socrates 6. Marcus Aurelius 7. Reflections on the Idea of the "Cultivation of the Self' PART IV: THEMES 8. "Only the Present is our Happiness": The Value of the Present Instant in Goethe and in Ancient Philosophy 9. The View from Above 10. The Sage and the World 11. Philosophy as a Way of Life
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